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DePuy Announces U.S. Settlement Agreement to Compensate ASR™ Hip System Patients Who Had Surgery to Replace Their ASR Hip
WARSAW, IN, November 19, 2013 – DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. (DePuy) and the Court-appointed committee of lawyers representing ASR™ Hip System plaintiffs today announced a settlement agreement to compensate eligible ASR patients in the United States who had surgery to replace their ASR hip, known as revision surgery, as of August 31, 2013.

“We are committed to the well-being of ASR patients, as demonstrated by the voluntary recall and the program providing support for recall-related care,” said Andrew Ekdahl, Worldwide President, DePuy Synthes Joint Reconstruction. “The U.S. settlement program provides compensation for eligible patients without the delay and uncertainty of protracted litigation. DePuy remains committed to our purpose of advancing innovative treatment options to serve those who need joint replacement surgery.”

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Today, Monday November 18, 2013, the federal court docket reflected for the first time that there is a settlement in the Johns & Johnson ASR metal on metal hip implant litigation. The New York Times and Bloomberg Financial News had reported based upon unnamed sources a $4 billion dollar settlement of the 12,000 lawsuits brought against DePuy and Johnson & Johnson for failures of the ASR metal on metal hip implants. There had been no confirmation of any settlement by Johnson & Johnson, DePuy or any of the lawyers negotiating the deal. Further, the court filings had not provided any confirmation of a settlement. However, several scheduled jury trials involving the ASR had recently been settled or postponed leading to speculation that there had been a “stand down” of litigation in anticipation of a settlement.

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Johnson & Johnson DePuy ASR Hip Replacement Implant Lawsuit Settlement Signup Information
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http://www.saunderslawyers.com (800) 748 – 7115

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Johnson & Johnson will pay more than $4 billion to resolve more than 12,000
lawsuits in federal and state courts over defective DePuy ASR hip implants. Once
approved, this settlement will be the largest US settlement of legal claims for a
medical device, dwarfing the 2001 settlement of claims involving defective Sulzer
hip and knee implants that cost $1 billion.

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Middle Age Men Facing Low T Crisis of Epidemic Proportions
Or are they?
According to an October 15, 2013 New York Times article, low testosterone levels, or Low T, in men are basically an invented condition. Dr. Joel Finkelstein, an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, told the New York Times that there was “no such disease” as low T. Once used for older men with hormonal deficiencies caused by medical problems, the Low T gels are now being sold ‘as a lifestyle product’. Furthermore, the article states that Low T is rarely the cause of erectile dysfunction.
The article goes on to state that Dr. Eric Topol, Cardiologist and Chief Academic Officer at Scripps Health in San Diego was alarmed at the number of his patients who use underarm roll-on testosterone medications, stating that the medications come with a high risk of coronary artery disease and possible side effect of an enlarged prostrate.
If doctors are alarmed and there is a risk of an enlarged prostate, along with a high risk of heart disease, then why are millions of men using testosterone gels? The simple truth is that pharmaceutical companies invest enormous amounts of energy, money and time into learning the psychology of consumers. Pharmaceutical companies spend billions of dollars parlaying the results of their research into strategies for direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising, called DTCPA by the FDA. Whether we are in our car, or on our phones, computers or televisions, DTCPA soaks the market from almost any electronic device. Not one lobe of our cerebral cortex is forgotten. We are enticed visually, seduced orally, and lured through our own imaginations to conjure pictures of material and sexual success, and suddenly, “Hey Doc! I think I have that!”
Costs for some of these overpriced medications can amount to $400 – $500 month, usually picked up in part, by insurance companies. That may sound good for us in the short-term, but what are we actually paying for? In this case, it is a well-funded psychological warfare designed to keep us addicted to a commercially created illness, as well as an increase overall to our already overpriced healthcare costs.
Some of the adverse effects of testosterone gels do not only include the prescribed user, but children who come in contact with the gels. Medical literature in the Journal of Pediatric and Endocrinology and Metabolism, chronicles two incidents of a 21-month-old boy and 4-year-old girl who grew pubic hair and had other adult-related physical reactions.
Morry B. Smulevitz, Director of Communications for Lilly, stated that low testosterone was a “recognized clinical condition with signs and symptoms that could impact millions of patients.” The article does not identify Smulevitz as a medical professional, nor does it indicate where the clinical data he refers to originated. I guess we’re just supposed to ignore the medical professionals from Harvard and Scripps, and take his word for it.

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In August Bloomberg news reported that Johnson & Johnson was reportedly considering a $3 billion settlement regarding more than 11,000 DePuy ASR hip lawsuits. Bloomberg went on to report that the settlement offer would depend on the outcome of a series of ASR trials that were to take place this Fall.
Since that initial report, events have unfolded that lead me to believe that Johnson & Johnson is strongly considering a settlement.
The first trial in the federal consolidation was scheduled to begin on Sept. 24 in Cleveland, Ohio. U.S. District judge David Katz granted a 90 day delay to allow more time for pre-trial processes and scheduling for expert witnesses. In my experience Federal Judges are reluctant to grant delays over witness scheduling conflicts. The more likely reason is that a realistic settlement offer from Johnson & Johnson is on the horizon and more time is needed for negotiations.
In California on October 1, Johnson & Johnson settled with a plaintiff for an undisclosed sum. This settlement happened before the start of 2000 cases that were consolidated and to be heard before Judge Richard Kramer in San Francisco.
On October 8, another ASR suit was deemed resolved by the Bergen County District Dourt in New Jersey and removed from the trial calendar
In Las Vegas last year three DePuy ASR cases were settled before verdict
Only two ASR cases have gone to trial. In the first trial Johnson & Johnson lost an $8.3 million verdict. A California jury awarded damages to a Montana prison guard and ruled that J&J’s DePuy Orthopedics division designed of the device was defective.
Six weeks later a Chicago jury ruled for DePuy and rejected a defective design claim by an Illinois nurse.
It was though that the win in Chicago would help prolong DePuy’s strategy of proceeding on a case-by-case basis in an effort to avoid any type of settlement. But since the Chicago trial DePuy has quietly settled a handful of cases and had a major trial delayed.
I think that the DePuy is leveraging the Chicago verdict in a few individual settlements, while at the same time trying to negotiate a larger class action settlement. Any further rulings against them would weaken their negotiating platform so it is their best interest to delay any trials before a settlement can be reached.
The ASR is part of the largest medical device failure in history, and Johnson & Johnson needs to be held accountable and take responsibility for the pain and the suffering they have caused. The time has come for them to settle this horrible tragedy and help the people they have harmed.

Medical Device Tax
Medical device manufacturers scream that the medical device tax of the Affordable Care Act tax is unfair and they are willing to spend what it takes to buy politicians to defeat it. This is legal and is called lobbying. Republicans demanding repeal of the medical device tax state the tax will increase healthcare costs and inhibit new methods and ideas.
Johnson & Johnson, owner of DePuy, a medical device manufacturer, earned a total (pharmaceuticals included) of $2.98 billion for the third quarter, compared with $2.97 billion, in 2012. This is in spite of the 2 percent decline of sales in the medical devices division and lawsuits involving metal on metal hip replacement implants. Johnson & Johnson was reported in the New York Times as stating the reason was due to people being reluctant to undergo elective surgeries.
Despite having made millions in profits, Johnson & Johnson has not lowered healthcare costs. Furthermore, what new technology has been introduced?
According to an article on Medical Device Development posted on the American Heart Association’s website, “Although large medical device companies typically develop successive iterations of existing devices, most new device categories are typically developed by venture-backed start-up companies.”
Medical manufacturers spend very little of their total profits in new technology. Most of the time, they simply piggyback reworked devices on prior approval of similar devices. One could even insinuate that medical device manufacturers expect some devices to fail and are willing to pay the cost of the fallout.
Finding out the actual cost of a medical device may require the services of Sherlock Holmes. According to the New York Times, prices are confidential, many times even to the physicians. Manufacturers lobby medical providers just as they do politicians, except that it is legal to provide gifts to doctors and medical facilities. The incentive of gain is enough for healthcare providers to attempt to use one or more medical device manufacturers exclusively. We may not find out how much the devices cost, but we do know that the market mark-up for the United States is higher than many other countries.
The New York Times stated that with Johnson & Johnson’s profit of $7.2 billion in 2012, the medical device tax would have cost them about $300 million, its research and development investment, $1.7 billion, leaving them a a profit of $5.7 billion. Remember, their profit went up this year.
The New York Times reported that Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, sponsored legislation to post online price information for implantable medical devices. This would encourage competition, something currently sadly missing, between manufacturers.
If manufacturers are so worried about the bottom line, perhaps they should stop spending their profits in Washington, stop rushing reconfigured products through the FDA, and start exercising fair commercial practices.

Depuy settles New Jersey ASR hip implant lawsuit in New Jersey weeks before October trial date. A New Jersey state court judge released an order on October 8 cancelling the scheduled jury trial.
Last week a California Depuy ASR lawsuit was settled right before trial. Earlier this year Depuy was hit with an 8 million dollar verdict in the first ASR lawsuit to go to trial.
It has been three and a half years since the recall of the ASR. There are 12 thousand lawsuits currently pending against DePuy and Johnson & Johnson.
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Saunders & Walker P.A. Hip Implant Lawsuit Settlement Center

In what is likely to be the first of potentially many defective hip replacement implant lawsuits across the country, DePuy Orthopaedics ( maker of the Johnson & Johnson DePuy ASR ) has settled a California case ahead of it’s scheduled October 15th trial date.
Link to more information about this hip implant lawsuit settlement: Hip Replacement Lawsuit Settlement
To read more about this settlement and other defective hip implant replacement lawsuit settlements visit our firm’s website at http://www.saunderslawyers.com

On Wednesday September 25, two Pennsylvania legislators will hold a press conference to unveil bills that would change the State’s current statute of limitations in cases of child sex abuse.
State Rep. Mark Rozzi, along with state Sen. Rob Teplitz, have teamed together to garner support for legislation that would increase the statute of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse to take civil action against alleged abusers.
Similar legislation has been passed in California and Delaware brought hundreds of sexual predators to justice and protected a generation of children.
Under the current statute of limitations in Pennsylvania, child victims of sexual abuse only have 12 years, or until they are 30, to bring charges against their abuser. After that, if they file claims, the victims can be sued by their predator for harassment.
The statute of limitations plays an important and long-standing role in criminal and civil jurisprudence. However, young victims of sex abuse are often reluctant to come forward. There are significant and unique barriers that prevent children from reporting what they intuitively know is inappropriate behavior.
In recent years revelations about the abuse of minors has rocked the Catholic Church, the Boy scouts of America, the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Communities in New York, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Many of the cases uncovered go back decades, and had never been previously reported.
Both measures before the Pennsylvania legislature would establish a two-year window during which the civil statute of limitations would be suspended to allow past victims of child sex abuse to access the justice system and expose guilty perpetrators.
For Representative Mark Rozzi this bill is personal. He was 38 when he finally admitted that a priest at Catholic School had abused him when he was 13. The trigger for Rozzi was the suicide of a close friend who had also been abused by the same priest when they were children.
As Rep. Rozzi and Sen. Teplitz ready their bills it is also being reported that one of the most notorious sexual predators in Pennsylvania, Jerry Sandusky, is preparing to appeal his conviction. It has been hinted at that his appeal will challenge that many of the charges brought against him fell outside the State’s statute of limitations.
Please visit our dedicated Sexual Abuse Lawsuit website for more information
Priest abuse lawyer website

Win for Vaginal Mesh Plaintiffs
The first Federal Bellwether case in Virginia ended with a jury of four men and four women awarding a $2 million verdict to Donna Cisson. A Bellwether case is one of similar claims and theories among a specific number of test cases used to set a standard for the remaining lawsuits. All vaginal mesh cases have been consolidated due to the volume of lawsuits filed and will be tried in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of West Virginia.
Ms. Cisson’s case involved an Avaulta Plus implant device made by C.R. Bard. Ms. Cisson experienced pain during sexual intercourse, bleeding and bladder spasms. The jurors deliberated for only 12 hours before deciding that Bard’s design of the Avaulta implants were flawed and Bard failed to warn both physicians and patients about the defects. Ms. Cisson’s attorneys accused the company of putting profits before people with “malice, fraud or wantonness.” Bard officials advised they will appeal.
The Cisson v. C.R. Bard, Inc. verdict is the first of four test cases for all vaginal mesh implants cases, including, Ethicon, Johnson & Johnson, C.R. Bard and Boston Scientific. However, it is the second loss for Bard. The first was last July, 2012, where a jury awarded a total verdict of $5.5 million verdict to Christine Scott, of which Bard’s portion was $3.6 million. The second of the four Bellwether trials started on August 19, 2013.
Avaulta implants were removed from the market in 2012 after the FDA ordered a study of the devices for pain linked to sex, organ damage and infection. Bard’s stock dropped 1.7% to $133.47 in the New York Stock exchange on August 16, 2013 and to $114.54 as of August 22, 2013.
The Ethicon, Johnson & Johnson, C.R. Bard, and all mesh manufacturers involved in lawsuits will be forced to examine the potential impact to their companies due to the outcome of these Bellwether cases. They will have to and make a decision whether to continue to hold and defend their position through trial, or to begin the process of settling and removing products which have been proven in Federal Court, to be defective.
We continue to monitor and keep you updated on these Bellwether verdicts. We believe that justice will prevail for patients and physicians whose trust was betrayed by corporate greed.
If you are suffering from injuries due to a vaginal mesh implant, you may be entitled to compensation for lost wages, pain and suffering, medical bills and future medical care among other things. Call Saunders & Walker at (800) 748-7115 to find out how we can be of service to you.